Petty design elements that you hate about otherwise great cars?

Tony Sestito said:

In reply to Recon1342 :

If you are talking about the brake lights that blink a bunch of times every time you tap the brakes like the failing brake light switch of a 1997 Ford Crown Vic, then yes, that is SUPER annoying. Pair that with retina-searing LED lights and it makes me want to take a baseball bat to their taillights. I'm guessing this is the result of some sort of aftermarket pedal CANBUS device like a Pedal Commander or the like. I see this most on late model Nissans, especially Altimas and Talltimas (Rogues). 

 

Given his reference to 60's Mustangs and Cougars, I suspect that he means the turn signal light animation. Regarding the brake lights, I seem to recall that there was some option of having the brake lights flash for a few seconds before staying steady on during a panic/hard braking situation to alert the driver behind you, but work normally (steady on) during normal braking.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

The propotions on an NSX (original version).  There's just too much flat rear deck between the rear window and the wing/spoiler.

Yaaaaas! Ok, so here is what happened. Originally the NSX was supposed to be a SOHC V6, similar to the C32A in the Acura Legend that launched a few years prior. After the body was designed Sochiro increased the power goals thereby necessitating DOHC and Vtec. The C32B that the engineering team came up with is a 90 degree chonker with frankly massive heads. Unfortunately this meant the body had to be lengthened by about 2.5" between the passenger compartment and the trunk.

Putting the trunk behind the engine compartment is just tough to do from an design perspective (he C8 vette has the same problem), so the deck was alwasy going to be a little too long. But what you're seeing in the NSX is at least partially because the design goals changed half way through the process. 

I would love to see the original body with the "correct" proportions, but to my knowledge Honda destroyed them all. 

Fun fact! The guy who designed the NSX also designed the Enzo.

Regarding the OP's original post title requirement I nominate ANY modern Bugatti. What's more great car with a petty annoying design element than that horseshoe grill? Especially on the newest car.

The Tourbillon

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

Tourbillion? Is that the model or price?

What was the pretty little Jag from 25 years ago that had the toilet seat for a grille?

Early Barracudas ('64-'66) and same-year Valiants (except wagons) have nonsymmetrical wheel openings, with top of the rear tire covered..  Not only is it the weakest point in the design, it also makes changing the rear wheels more difficult.  That's especially true if you go with wider tire/wheel combinations.

Radiused rear wheel wells - like the wagon and the Australian AP5 had -  really clean up the lines for me.

Oh, yeah.  Plymouth should also have moved the fuel filler up about four to six inches, so I don't have to crouch to hold the nozzle during fill-ups.

AP5 for comparison:

Oh, yeah.  Plymouth should also have moved the fuel filler up about four inches, so I don't have to crouch do hold the nozzle during fill-ups.

No Time said:

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

Tourbillion? Is that the model or price?

Tourbillion is a better deal than the Treebillion or Fourbillion.

This tail pipe. Or is it a pellet dispenser?

It's far from the only issue, but...

Intercooler aesthetic ones I was reminded of. Mazdaspeed Miata got a front mount the size of a Gideon's bible. Proudly mounted up front, it just looks like a teething baby. The first mod on all of these would need to be a bigger intercooler for that reason alone.
 

Also early Evos 1-5ish. Mitsubishi put an afterthought of a bumper support right down the middle in front of their intercoolers with also a visibly weird routing of the charge piping. The aftermarket obviously handled all that but it seemed like such a dumb thing to release it like that.

Tony Sestito said:

In reply to Recon1342 :

If you are talking about the brake lights that blink a bunch of times every time you tap the brakes like the failing brake light switch of a 1997 Ford Crown Vic, then yes, that is SUPER annoying. Pair that with retina-searing LED lights and it makes me want to take a baseball bat to their taillights. I'm guessing this is the result of some sort of aftermarket pedal CANBUS device like a Pedal Commander or the like. I see this most on late model Nissans, especially Altimas and Talltimas (Rogues). 

 

The flashing 3rd brake light is an aftermarket add-on.  Flashing red lights that aren't turn signals are kind of illegal.

Maybe not a 'great' car...  but I've been driven away from buying a truck by one simple thing:

So most wheels and tires I've seen are round, right?

Some designers will add flourishes here and there, but wheel openings are also generally round to match.

Over at GM:

Yes, giant ugly squares that show off as much of the chassis as possible:

In reply to rallyxPOS13 :

True, but I assume they took that design queue from the Square Body:

The Silverado HD's nose drives me crazy. The more I look at them the more annoyed I get. It has to be the most polarizing of all the full sized trucks. It looks like it was designed be an AI with a long list of conflicting requirements.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Tony Sestito said:

In reply to Recon1342 :

If you are talking about the brake lights that blink a bunch of times every time you tap the brakes like the failing brake light switch of a 1997 Ford Crown Vic, then yes, that is SUPER annoying. Pair that with retina-searing LED lights and it makes me want to take a baseball bat to their taillights. I'm guessing this is the result of some sort of aftermarket pedal CANBUS device like a Pedal Commander or the like. I see this most on late model Nissans, especially Altimas and Talltimas (Rogues). 

 

The flashing 3rd brake light is an aftermarket add-on.  Flashing red lights that aren't turn signals are kind of illegal.

Like many things...it depends. Modulated brake lights are legal on motorcycles. I suspect that they are legal on the 3rd brake lights in 4-wheel vehicles in many states. I see them much more frequently lately on many different brands and models of cars and doubt that the these random people are paying to modify their cars and they are being delivered installed by the OEMs.

I have brake light modulators on all my motorcycles, and have modified the third brake light on a few of my cars too. Note that I have CA legal versions that do not continuously flash while the brake are applied. They only flash 4-5x in 4-5 seconds then stay 'on'.

Link to NHTSA guidance doc (not law): https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/1983-235

CA Vehicle Code

myf16n said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Tony Sestito said:

In reply to Recon1342 :

If you are talking about the brake lights that blink a bunch of times every time you tap the brakes like the failing brake light switch of a 1997 Ford Crown Vic, then yes, that is SUPER annoying. Pair that with retina-searing LED lights and it makes me want to take a baseball bat to their taillights. I'm guessing this is the result of some sort of aftermarket pedal CANBUS device like a Pedal Commander or the like. I see this most on late model Nissans, especially Altimas and Talltimas (Rogues). 

 

The flashing 3rd brake light is an aftermarket add-on.  Flashing red lights that aren't turn signals are kind of illegal.

Like many things...it depends. Modulated brake lights are legal on motorcycles. I suspect that they are legal on the 3rd brake lights in 4-wheel vehicles in many states. I see them much more frequently lately on many different brands and models of cars and doubt that the these random people are paying to modify their cars and they are being delivered installed by the OEMs.

I have brake light modulators on all my motorcycles, and have modified the third brake light on a few of my cars too. Note that I have CA legal versions that do not continuously flash while the brake are applied. They only flash 4-5x in 4-5 seconds then stay 'on'.

Link to NHTSA guidance doc (not law): https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/1983-235

CA Vehicle Code

 

 

It's not that people are saying, 'Yes I'll pay for some random flashing light!' It's more than the dealer was conned into paying $15 for a $.50 circuitboard and wires and resells to all new car purchases under the guise of safety. When I was at Audi is was part of the PDI procedure and just tacked on to the sale price.

When you turn off a windshield wiper and it cycles one more time, why?   Half of the cars that I've owned stop when you turn them off half cycle one more time.  Damn it just do what I asked, If I wanted one more wipe I would have cycled the switch the other way.

iansane said:

myf16n said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Tony Sestito said:

In reply to Recon1342 :

If you are talking about the brake lights that blink a bunch of times every time you tap the brakes like the failing brake light switch of a 1997 Ford Crown Vic, then yes, that is SUPER annoying. Pair that with retina-searing LED lights and it makes me want to take a baseball bat to their taillights. I'm guessing this is the result of some sort of aftermarket pedal CANBUS device like a Pedal Commander or the like. I see this most on late model Nissans, especially Altimas and Talltimas (Rogues). 

 

The flashing 3rd brake light is an aftermarket add-on.  Flashing red lights that aren't turn signals are kind of illegal.

Like many things...it depends. Modulated brake lights are legal on motorcycles. I suspect that they are legal on the 3rd brake lights in 4-wheel vehicles in many states. I see them much more frequently lately on many different brands and models of cars and doubt that the these random people are paying to modify their cars and they are being delivered installed by the OEMs.

I have brake light modulators on all my motorcycles, and have modified the third brake light on a few of my cars too. Note that I have CA legal versions that do not continuously flash while the brake are applied. They only flash 4-5x in 4-5 seconds then stay 'on'.

Link to NHTSA guidance doc (not law): https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/1983-235

CA Vehicle Code

 

 

It's not that people are saying, 'Yes I'll pay for some random flashing light!' It's more than the dealer was conned into paying $15 for a $.50 circuitboard and wires and resells to all new car purchases under the guise of safety. When I was at Audi is was part of the PDI procedure and just tacked on to the sale price.

I tend to agree with this assessment. It's probably a tacked-on dealer add-on that gets installed on everything on the lot. And seeing it mostly on new Nissans totally tracks, given the reputation of most Nissan dealers around here.

I see this "feature" on lots of other cars as well, usually roached-out Accords, Civics, and hastily modded mid-00's Corollas with stick-on vents, trucks with brodozer mods, and the like. I mean, I notice when they are stopping, which is the whole point, but having to bear witness to a red strobe light show in my face 6000x during my commute is aggravating. 

For the record, I'm not talking about sequential turn signals like 60's Ford/Mercury products and current Mustangs have. Those are cool.

In reply to iansane :

If I bought a new car and the dealership saw fit to modify it, I would demand another new car or a very hefty reduction in the price because they depreciated the value by making it non original and possibly voiding the warranty.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I know someone who bought a new car that had a cheap-ass proximity alert system tacked onto the dashboard by the dealer - in a car that came standard with both front and rear parking sensors plus a backup camera.

In reply to iansane :

I had no idea that happens. That sucks!

I hate how the last gen bmw always looks better than the new one. I cannot think of a single time I wasn't thinking, how can this get worse? And then they do it. For over 50 years. 

rallyxPOS13 said:

Maybe not a 'great' car...  but I've been driven away from buying a truck by one simple thing:

 

So most wheels and tires I've seen are round, right?

Some designers will add flourishes here and there, but wheel openings are also generally round to match.

Over at GM:

Yes, giant ugly squares that show off as much of the chassis as possible:

And then they made it even more irritating on the next generation, where they added some angle to the wheel well openings on the GMC, but only the front. The rear edge of the wheel well is still squared off. Oh, and there is also that stupid little fake vent thing directly below the headlight that's just kind of stuck on there. And the less said about the '19+ Chevy styling the better. 

NickD said:

And then they made it even more irritating on the next generation, where they added some angle to the wheel well openings on the GMC, but only the front. The rear edge of the wheel well is still squared off. Oh, and there is also that stupid little fake vent thing directly below the headlight that's just kind of stuck on there. And the less said about the '19+ Chevy styling the better. 

Dear Bob.  The cab on that thing actually looks like it is sinking into the quicksand of its own shoulder line.

Hyundai / Kia's propensity for some years now to put the rear turn signal lights at lower bumper height, vs. with the rest of the taillight assembly.  Why, I have no idea as the only person who can see them operate is the one person directly behind the blasted car.  Unfortunately, I'm now seeing this awesome placement start to show up on other brands' vehicles.